– The Rangers were defeated by the New Jersey Devils, 3-2, tonight at Madison Square Garden in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final. The series is now tied at one game apiece.

– New York is now 207-223-8 overall in postseason action, including a 116-87-2 mark at home.

– Twelve of the Blueshirts’ 16 playoff games have been decided by one goal.

– The Rangers tallied one power play goal in four attempts (7:02), and are now 2-8 (25.0%) with the man advantage in the series.

– Marc Staal recorded the Rangers’ first goal of the contest to increase New York’s league-leading total to 10 goals scored by defensemen in the playoffs.

Player Notes:

– Chris Kreider notched a power play goal, registered three shots on goal and was credited with three hits in 18:14 of ice time to earn second star honors. With the goal, he tied the NHL record for most playoff goals and points by a player who has never skated in a regular season game, with four goals and six points in postseason action. Kreider has registered three points (two goals, one assist) in the last two games, and is now tied for the lead among league rookies (11th overall) in goals (four) and ranks third in points (six).

– Marc Staal tallied the Rangers’ first goal at 2:23 of the second period, registered three shots on goal and two blocked shots in a game-high, 27:26 of ice time. He has recorded four points (two goals, two assists) in the last six games, and is now tied with teammate Anton Stralman for first among NHL defensemen with three goals in postseason action.

– Anton Stralman registered a power play assist, and was credited with two hits and two blocked shots in the contest. He is now tied for the NHL lead among defensemen with four power play points (two goals, two assists) in the playoffs.

– Artem Anisimov tallied a power play assist and was credited with two hits in the contest. He has recorded five points (two goals, three assists) in the last six games, including three points (one goal, two assists) in the last two games.

– Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves and is now 24-27 overall in the playoffs, including a 14-12 mark at home.

– Brad Richards tallied the primary assist on Staal’s goal and registered three shots on goal in 21:22 of ice time. He leads the team and ranks sixth in the league in scoring with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in the playoffs.

– Dan Girardi recorded an assist and was credited with two hits in 25:20 of ice time. He has tallied six points (one goal, five assists) in the last seven games, and now leads all NHL defensemen in scoring with 10 points and eight assists in the playoffs.

– Ryan McDonagh was credited with a game-high, eight blocked shots, and tied for the game-high with five hits in 24:33 of ice time. The eight blocked shots tied his playoff career-high.

Post-Game Quotes:

– Ryan Callahan on the team’s mentality heading into Game 3 … “We’ve been in this situation before. We just have to go into Jersey and try to get that next game. We can’t get down. Like I said, we’ve been in this situation before, and we’ve come through. We’ll get a day off tomorrow, and be ready to work on Friday.”

– Carl Hagelin on the importance of the first goal of the game … “It seems to be like that in the playoffs, the team to get the first goal seems to play a bit more relaxed. They don’t have to take many chances to get chances. Then you just play well defensively.”

Team Schedule:

– The Blueshirts do not have practice scheduled for tomorrow, May 17. The Rangers’ next practice is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 18, at MSG Training Center.

– The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, May 19, at Prudential Center (1:00 p.m.), in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. The game will be televised live on NBC, and can be heard on ESPN Radio 98.7FM.

24 Comments

… so tell me what Boyle hasn’t done besides score? Please. It’s ridiculous to say he’s been non-existent … sounds to me like the same dime-a-dozen argument during the season when he was doing everything but score. So he sucked. Then he started scoring and he was great.

Repost: I didn’t mind benching Gaborik either. No player should be exempt from that if the circumstances are reasonable (failing to clear the puck which leads directly to a goal on a shot you may have blocked in Game Two of a playoff series certainly fits that description if you ask me). And it only lasted half the period anyway. While I do agree that he needs to be better, Gabby has never really had that star persona or prima donna attitude and I believe he is invested just as much in this team and Torts’ system as everyone else, and vice versa.

There’s no doubt Boyle hasn’t been the same player he was early in that Ottawa series (since getting concussed). He’s been excellent on faceoffs, so that certainly counts for something. But I do think he’s been less of a factor elsewhere and it’s entirely possible the head injury is part of why.

If anything, Torts’ conduct in conferences should just be indicative of how brilliant a coach he is. Look how much time the media spends talking about him and ripping him. He’s protecting his players, and I’ll take that any day of the week, especially when most of the questions are beyond stupid. Thank goodness for Carp!